Here is the second part of Maureen's (Mo's) preview of the shops on the 2012 Seattle to Portland Yarn Train. So much to see!

Happy Knits I love the high ceilings, light-colored walls and space in this shop. So much yarn to look at and a huge classroom/meeting area to take a seat and rest when you feel the need. Plus a separate viewable playroom for the little ones. Take a look at some of the yarns they carry on their website. Be sure to read their blog while you’re at it.

Yarn Garden Oh my gosh. Room after room chock full of yarn. Samples, patterns, so many ideas. Check out what’s in the store online. I fell in love with this sweet little baby sweater (photo below) from one skein of yarn. Don’t have any more grandbabies to knit for but got it anyway. Hard to resist.

Food Trucks Just a short distance from Knit Purl is an entire square block plus a few more on an adjacent block of food carts. Every imaginable type of ethnic food. Great way to get food on the run. Bordered between Alder and Washington and 9th and 11th. Or online at FoodCartsPortland.com.

Knit-Purl After a bite to eat, we went to Knit-Purl. So many samples to look at. So much yarn as well. Lots of natural light streaming in from the windows. We’ve been invited to use their downstairs classroom area to rest if we wish. Check them out online and look at what one of their customers (photo below: Double-Knitting) was working on while we were there. Unbelievable. She was working with two yarns faster than I knit with one.

Cacao One of my most favorite non-knitting places to visit in Portland is Cacao. A marvelous little shop to sit and enjoy a cup of drinking chocolate. Check them out here and see if you’re enticed to pay them a visit.

Here is a guest post from Maureen (Mo) Galbreath, our valiant Yarn Train coordinator, who recently spent some time in Portland previewing the shops and other features of Portland, that you won't want to miss while you're there.

I just spent two lovely days in Portland visiting the seven shops that will be on the Seattle to Portland Yarn Train Crawl. The Crawl is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, with the Amtrak train leaving the station at 7:30 am.

This year, we’ve added four new shops to the Crawl. All are accessible via Portland’s TriMet bus system. We will have printed information on which bus to take to get to each of the outlying shops. Yarnia Be sure to check out their website. Especially the video of how the yarn is wound on their machine.

Twisted Next stop on our Portland (PDX) trip was Twisted. So many wonderful samples to look at and a big library of patterns as well. This shop is definitely set up for browsing with places to sit down and their own tea bar. Be sure to check out the “About” option on their website to learn about the yarns they carry and their clubs. The Shawlette Club looks soo inviting.

Dublin Bay Dublin Bay was next on the list. A sweet shop with so much to look at and a very comfortable place to sit and knit, complete with fireplace and TV. Visit their website to check out their yarns. And be sure “to take a virtual tour of our shop” to familiarize yourself with what they carry. The battery on my phone was depleted and I was unable to take any pictures here. You’ll have to visit in person to see for yourself how lovely it is.

Urban Fiber Arts Our last stop for the day was Urban Fiber Arts. We always get such a warm welcome from Cindy whenever we visit. This shop features many local hand dyers and some of the color ways are so pretty. It was their evening knit/spin night so we had an opportunity to watch one of the gals spinning. Be sure to check them out on Facebook or on their website to see some of the yarns and learn more about the activities going on at the shop.